There was some discussion yesterday about LeVeon Bell and the Jets backfield. Considering the contract the Jets signed him to, it makes sense that he'd be a workhorse. And maybe that's how things will turn out. But the Jets fired the GM who gave Bell that contract, and head coach Adam Gase might have different ideas.
New York has a couple of other viable running backs on the roster. The two outlined in a recent Athletic story as the best candidates for the No. 2 job -- Bilal Powell (pictured; New York resigned him last month) and Ty Montgomery -- can do many of the same things Bell can do, particularly in the passing game. (Montgomery started his career as a wide receiver in Green Bay.) And Gase made heavy use of a No. 2 running back in Miami.
Last year, working behind ageless Frank Gore, Kenyan Drake carried the ball 120 times for 535 yards. Among the league's No. 2 running backs, only three (Mark Ingram, Latavius Murray and Austin Ekeler) ran for more yards.
| 2ND-BEST RUNNING BACKS, 2018 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Yds | Avg | TD |
| Mark Ingram, N.O. | 138 | 645 | 4.7 | 6 |
| Latavius Murray, Min. | 140 | 578 | 4.1 | 6 |
| Austin Ekeler, LAC | 106 | 554 | 5.2 | 3 |
| Kenyan Drake, Mia. | 120 | 535 | 4.5 | 4 |
| Royce Freeman, Den. | 130 | 521 | 4.0 | 5 |
| Dion Lewis, Ten. | 155 | 517 | 3.3 | 1 |
| LeSean McCoy, Buff. | 161 | 514 | 3.2 | 3 |
| Mike Davis, Sea. | 112 | 514 | 4.6 | 4 |
| Jamaal Williams, G.B. | 121 | 464 | 3.8 | 3 |
| Tarik Cohen, Chi. | 99 | 444 | 4.5 | 3 |
| Alfred Morris, S.F. | 111 | 428 | 3.9 | 2 |
| James White, N.E. | 94 | 425 | 4.5 | 5 |
| LeGarrette Blount, Det. | 154 | 418 | 2.7 | 5 |
| T.J. Yeldon, Jac. | 104 | 414 | 4.0 | 1 |
| Carlos Hyde, Clev. | 114 | 382 | 3.4 | 5 |
| Marshawn Lynch, Oak. | 90 | 376 | 4.2 | 3 |
| Wendell Smallwood, Phil. | 87 | 364 | 4.2 | 3 |
| Bilal Powell, NYJ | 80 | 343 | 4.3 | 0 |
| Jordan Wilkins, Ind. | 60 | 336 | 5.6 | 1 |
| Ito Smith, Atl. | 90 | 315 | 3.5 | 4 |
| C.J. Anderson, LAR | 43 | 299 | 7.0 | 2 |
| Jaylen Samuels, Pitt. | 56 | 256 | 4.6 | 0 |
| Giovani Bernard, Cin. | 56 | 211 | 3.8 | 3 |
| Chase Edmonds, Ariz. | 60 | 208 | 3.5 | 2 |
| Chris Thompson, Was. | 43 | 178 | 4.1 | 0 |
| Wayne Gallman, NYG | 51 | 176 | 3.5 | 1 |
So I don't expect to have Bell on any of my teams this year, and I think monitoring who the No. 2 is with the Jets makes sense. And not only because Bell might be more prone to injury after a year away. Either Powell or Montgomery (The Athletic is cool on the likelihood of Elijah McGuire or Trenton Cannon making the team) could be fairly productive in this offense. New York might not want to overwork Bell (as he has said was the case in Pittsburgh), and Gase might not particularly care how much money the former GM gave him in free agency.
--Andy Richardson